Shop Time w/T.W. Friends. Torque wrench on spark plugs, we need answers so cast your vote now

FYI
I have done this..

 

Oh but those extra 450 rpms sound really special, esp with the pops and gurgles coming down from the flat plane crank

 

That would be a bit of a let down from 390 to 302.

There's no replacement for displacement...

 

I hate days like that, a single trip the store is a 3+ hour ordeal from my place. A second trip would kill any momentum toward completing a given project. I usually buy everything I think I'll need, plus everything I think I might need on the first trip, figuring I have a month to return whatever I don't use.


My garage is full of crap I've forgotten to return...

I've never had a pressure tank on any of my hot water tanks, and I've never really understood why they are there.

A bunch of years ago I guy a worked with said his water heater was leaking and asked if I knew anything about them, I responded that I had replaced mine before. So after work I went to look at his problem. Turned out the little pressure tank on top of the water heater was leaking. That was a really easy fix, just a few pipes to reroute the line to the pressure tank and turn it into a drain line to the drip pan. Problem solved...

 

My trips to the hardware store are not quite as long as yours. I have 1.5 hours around trip with traffic. Always traffic. One day I will have enough leftover or unused hardware parts to open my own store.

 

Yes!
...and no unfortunately.


The FE engines were introduced in 1958, while tough, long lived, dependable and "buildable" on the other hand they are heavy, slow turning, low output cast iron dinosaurs from time past - much like myself.


The 1960s versions were rated around 320 HP on the high side - remember this is a "gross" rating on a dyno with no accessories, later "net" ratings (as installed) were around 180 HP.

From an engine that weighs close to 800 pounds.


Just for comparison our "famous" 3.5 Tacoma engine weighs about 360 pounds and is rated 278 HP.

 

Our trips are probably not significantly different. My drive time to Lowe's is about 45 min each way, but I'm counting the shopping time into my time. Also for over 30 min of drive time, I have personal rule to not go to town for a single reason. So unless it's an emergency, there has to be a second or third stop. And if I'm going to town and the time is right, I might as well get something to eat while I'm there to save me the trouble of cooking. So Friday's trip to Lowe's for the pipes to put in the air dryer, included a stop at Buffalo Wild Wings (in the same parking lot as Lowes) for dinner, then over (across the street) to Kroger for groceries. I left the house at 5pm and got home about 9pm. By 10pm I'd finished mocking up the fittings and sealing all the joints together to cure. With just 3 little pieces of 1/4" NPT pipe left over to return or keep for some unknown future project.

 

Finished up the fence today. Big swing in weather, went from 50s windy and rainy yesterday to 78 and full sun today. This was the only picture I took but you get the idea

 

Those are kinda disappointing numbers, I didn't think the HP numbers sank that low until the '70s when the EPA came about. Still, todays 6.2l is better than today's 5.0l, displacement matters.

 

A lot of it is a ton of small improvements. The 380 was only ever carburated, where the newer 350's have fuel injection, at a minimum. Direct injection is a whole next level on most motors.

My cars tiny N/A 2.0L boxer-4 cyl makes 200hp, which, before direct injection, wasn't even possible to hit 100hp/Liter without resorting to forced induction methods.

the 70's-80's were a dark time for engines. Not much in the way of power came about until after mfg's started figuring out how to deal with the new emissions requirements without robbing most of the horsepower out of a motor. But I always like to imagine rubber vacuum hose manufacturers made a killing in that time.

 

I do the same thing. Easily sucks up entire parts of the day. "But while I'm out and about..."

 

The early days were always gross HP/Torque which isn’t really relatable to actual. So, very common that 150HP was really 83/90 actual. It wasn’t until MUCH later the truth in numbers actually occurred.

 

Well that's enough for today

Pressure relief valve was easy, but it took me 3 hours to install that fan. Nothing like adding something where there was nothing before. Contrary to what @RustyGreen thinks, it was dusty AF up there in the attic. Pretty sure I'll feel that later

 

Sharpened the lawn mower blade (for the first time with the new grinder and flap disk!), mowed and cleaned out all the dead landscaping yesterday. My gracilis is not happy.

 

I'm less worried about my muscles and more on my sinuses. Half through moving the old dusty insulation I was like "I really should have my N95 mask on"

 

After reading the last post, my first thought was "I wonder if he wore a mask"...

 

Nothing like a little hantavirus to go with my evening

 

Lowe’s had a clearance sale on grass seed, bag said sell by 7/2024. For $2.99/7lb bag, I figured I’d give 4 bags a shot.